"What on earth possessed me not to put on any clothes this morning?" Gemma thought to herself as she sat on the 8:13 train to London.
To the gentleman sitting opposite her reading his newspaper there was nothing amiss. He had looked up from his newspaper as she had sat down. Naturally he had admired the pretty girl. He saw her face but could only imagine the curves beneath her cream macintosh. Glancing down he could see polished black boots beneath her knees. His observant eye noted her knees were bare, no tights or...stockings. His thoughts idly drifted towards garter belts and stocking tops before returning to yesterday's stock market prices.
The reality was that there were no garter belts, no stockings, in fact no nothing. Underneath her 'mac' Gemma was completely naked. She kept her macintosh buttoned right up and her knees tightly together. She was worried, puzzled and confused, she could not think how she had forgotten to dress that morning. It was something she always did, people always did. What would she do when she got to work? She had to see Mr Bolton-Prosser first thing. He had been cross with her yesterday. Mr Bolton-Prosser was the Managing Director of the company where she worked. He was a big man, a bit like a bear, with rather long black but greying hair, an enormous beard and big hands. She always noticed those hands, how hairy their backs were, how carefully his nails were manicured. She shuddered. They worried her. He frightened her.
Yesterday she had made a mistake. She had been hurrying from a meeting and had collided with Mr Bolton-Prosser in the corridor making him drop the cup and saucer he was carrying, the china shattering as it hit the polished laminate floor, the shards dancing away across the floor..
He had stopped and taken her to one side and brought his face close to her. He had looked closely into her eyes and said, "Miss Thomson you should not have done that." She had had no option but to return his stare and stammer her apology. He had spoken to her again but the more she'd looked at him the more she found she couldn't look away, couldn't move, couldn't get away from his gaze, found herself lost in the depth of his eyes.
She remembered coming to on the floor. She had fainted and Mr Bolton-Prosser's secretary, Jasmine, had been leaning over her, "Are you alright Gemma, Gemma?" She had got to her feet. Mr Bolton-Prosser was not there.
"I, I must have fainted."
"Yes, you must have, let me help you to the First Aid Room."
She had recovered and finished the day as normal. Only now she was on the morning train without her clothes and knowing she was required in Mr Bolton-Prosser's office at 9am precisely. That was not normal.
David Miers had not broken any cups but he too had an appointment with Mr Bolton-Prosser. He was not naked under his overcoat but had a funny uneasy feeling about the meeting. He had not done anything wrong, as such: indeed he was one of Mr Bolton-Prosser's highest performers, always on the 'phone, always doing business. Nonetheless, the day before, Mr Bolton-Prosser had looked at him in a disapproving way and asked him to present himself at his office at 9am the next day.
Gemma walked out of the station into a cold blustery day. The wind whipped around her, tugging at her coat. She was acutely conscious how potentially undressed she was. It was quite a long cream coat she had on. A macintosh really in the trench coat style by 'Burberry'. You could easily see it was 'Burberry' by the lining but Gemma certainly did not have it open so that anyone could see: a lot more than just the lining would have been visible had it been unbuttoned! It had a wide belt in belt loops with a leather covered buckle. The belt was tight around her emphasising the swell of her hips. The coat was quite long but vented at the back and Gemma was quite tall. The wind tugged at the vent. She was sure, going up the pedestrian bridge over the railway, the vent had pulled open enough at the back for the man coming up behind her to see more than he should have done - her bottom. Certainly he had given her a 'look' and smiled a lot. She was scared the wind would pull the coat up now and she tried to keep her hands to her sides to hold it down. The wind was biting and blew where she was not used to it blowing, right up her coat and to her most intimate areas unprotected by silk, cotton or, indeed, anything. Why had she forgotten her clothes?
David sat at his usual table in 'Starbucks' sipping his early morning Cappuccino, making calls, wondering what Mr Bolton-Prosser would have to say. Gazing out of the window he saw Gemma walk past in her cream macintosh, belt drawn tightly round her waist. He caught a glimpse of knee above her shiny black boots. His eyes followed her. David had often watched her at the office, had spoken to her once or twice. Out of his league of course, too good looking to notice him, certainly would never go out with him. He had no idea at this moment how well he would "know" her by the end of the day.
Gemma caught her reflection in 'Starbucks' window. She looked good in her cream macintosh and boots, that made her feel a bit more confident but how was she going to keep her 'mac' on all day? She stopped, turned and walked back. It was cold, she was cold, she fancied a Latte to warm her up. She went to sit by the window, knees tightly together, with her mug. She did not see David looking at her before getting up to leave.
Mr Bolton-Prosser was at his desk when Jasmine, his secretary, announced David's arrival. He motioned David to sit in an armchair and came round to sit opposite him. He talked about how pleased he was with David's work, how well he was doing with the company. There was just one thing wrong. David was scruffy, his shirt was frayed, his tie old and a bit stained and his suit was crumpled and desperately in need of cleaning and pressing. Mr Bolton-Prosser droned on about the importance of young men, and women, looking smart, looking their best. David was struck by Mr Bolton-Prosser's gaze, how his eyes seemed to draw him in, how very compelling his gaze was, how deep set.... He slumped forward apparently asleep.
Gemma took her last sip of her creamy Latte. She felt better now. She looked at her watch, it was five to nine. She shot to her feet, she had stayed too long in 'Starbucks' and, unless she hurried, she would be late for her meeting with Mr Bolton-Prosser! She raced up the pavement towards the office building, her coat swishing from side to side. Normally she would have felt her nylon clad legs rubbing smoothly against each other as she ran but today it was just the rather cold bare flesh of her thighs. Flashing her security pass she sped past the front desk and into the lift. No time for a visit to the "Ladies" as she would have liked to have done, she was feeling a little uncomfortable following her cold journey and the Latte, but there was no time for that. This was a mistake, as she was soon to find out. Gemma burst out of the lift on the top floor. Jasmine was waiting.
"Ah Gemma, on time. Mr Bolton-Prosser cannot abide lateness, shall I take your coat?"
"Good morning Jasmine, no I, er, am rather cold this morning. I think I'll leave it on."
Jasmine opened the door and announced, "Miss Thomson to see you, Mr Bolton-Prosser."
Gemma went in, Jasmine followed. Mr Bolton-Prosser rose from his desk.
"Good morning Miss Thomson. So pleased to see you, so punctual. Jasmine take her coat please."
"No, I'm alright with it on," said Gemma in a panic.
"Come Miss Thomson you cannot wear your outdoorwear in here. That would not be right, would it Mr Miers?"
Gemma had not noticed David sitting across the room, he had been so still but he came to life.
"No Mr Bolton-Prosser I'm sure it would not."
Mr Bolton-Prosser's attention switched, to Gemma's relief, to David.
"Oh Mr Miers before Jasmine takes Miss Thomson's coat could you give her your suit to her to have it dry cleaned. It is too crumpled, as I said, and we want you looking smart now"
David took off his jacket handed it to Jasmine and then, with apparent unconcern and to Gemma's surprise, unlaced his shoes and took off his trousers.
"I think that shirt and tie have seen better days as well. You'd better take everything off, Mr Miers, and I'll get Jasmine to pop out and get you some new apparel at lunch time."